Search
Search results
Kelly (279 KP) rated The Magicians: Book 1 in Books
Nov 22, 2018
Harry Potter for grown ups
Contains spoilers, click to show
I was a fan of this book long before the TV series of the same name, and a firm believer that the book in this case is better than the screen. Unlike the TV series, the book comes across more intelligently and the characters are a lot more relatable. Lev Grossman uses popular fantasy books such as The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series for ideas for this novel, but adapts these childhood fantasies to an adult level.
Quentin, the main character within the novel is not your usual hero, being the high achieving teenager who could never quite best his peers, is fixated by a Narnia style story from his child hood (Fillory), which he could never quite overcome. The narrative shares Quentins journey from joining a magical college, making friends to early adulthood and finding that Fillory is real.
Despite the obvious links to other stories, Lev Grossman intelligently uses his story to explore a range of issues such as sexuality and depression, making his characters more relatable to the reader. The villains and events in the story are a lot more sinister than you might expect from a tale that combines so many of our childhood favourites, demonstrating Grossmans clever use in adult emotions. All of this succeeds in engaging the reader even further.
Although this was a book I enjoyed reading from start to finish, I did find the pace was a little fast at times, speeding from one time period in Quentins life to another. I realise that this is because Lev Grossman is portraying the events happening over the course of Quentins late teens and early twenties, but It did become a little frustrating as a reader.
The end of the plot was bitter sweet and did not follow the typical ‘all live happily ever after’ ending that you would expect from this type of tale. Ultimately the book ends on a cliff hanger and left me wanting to know more about what happened next. To me this makes the book a success.
Quentin, the main character within the novel is not your usual hero, being the high achieving teenager who could never quite best his peers, is fixated by a Narnia style story from his child hood (Fillory), which he could never quite overcome. The narrative shares Quentins journey from joining a magical college, making friends to early adulthood and finding that Fillory is real.
Despite the obvious links to other stories, Lev Grossman intelligently uses his story to explore a range of issues such as sexuality and depression, making his characters more relatable to the reader. The villains and events in the story are a lot more sinister than you might expect from a tale that combines so many of our childhood favourites, demonstrating Grossmans clever use in adult emotions. All of this succeeds in engaging the reader even further.
Although this was a book I enjoyed reading from start to finish, I did find the pace was a little fast at times, speeding from one time period in Quentins life to another. I realise that this is because Lev Grossman is portraying the events happening over the course of Quentins late teens and early twenties, but It did become a little frustrating as a reader.
The end of the plot was bitter sweet and did not follow the typical ‘all live happily ever after’ ending that you would expect from this type of tale. Ultimately the book ends on a cliff hanger and left me wanting to know more about what happened next. To me this makes the book a success.
Sawyer (231 KP) rated Lego Star Wars: The Video Game in Video Games
Dec 18, 2017
Lego Star Wars is the earliest of the Lego franchise based games I can remember with its success came tons of other games of its kind Lego Indiana Jones Lego Lord the Rings Lego Harry Potter the list just goes on and on Lego Star Wars drops the player
straight into the cockpit of the Vessel that is Star Wars the pre sequel trilogy you work your way through multiple levels that cover the series in chronological order each level has tons of hidden areas and items to find characters to unlock and just plenty of reasons to replay them there are lots of characters to unlock with certain characters having different purposes for the game some of the characters are for fighting some of the characters are for building items and others are for getting into special areas or solving puzzles this game is oozing with charm and comedy which would soon become the trademark of the Lego games no voice acting or dialogue means the story is told through physical acting and they do it a pretty good job at it
straight into the cockpit of the Vessel that is Star Wars the pre sequel trilogy you work your way through multiple levels that cover the series in chronological order each level has tons of hidden areas and items to find characters to unlock and just plenty of reasons to replay them there are lots of characters to unlock with certain characters having different purposes for the game some of the characters are for fighting some of the characters are for building items and others are for getting into special areas or solving puzzles this game is oozing with charm and comedy which would soon become the trademark of the Lego games no voice acting or dialogue means the story is told through physical acting and they do it a pretty good job at it
Kira (36 KP) rated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) in Movies
Sep 4, 2017
Special effects (2 more)
The creatures
Main casting
Johnny Depp (1 more)
Tina's character
I love the Harry Potter universe, but Fantastic Beasts failed to get my attention or fill with me with excitement. I'm not entirely sure why, but I didn't think I was going to enjoy it and unlike the other films in this universe, didn't go to the cinema upon it's release.
Boy was I wrong and gave myself a kick for not going to see it on the big screen!
I very quickly found myself not only falling in love with Newt, Queenie and Jacob, but the animals brought to life on screen. The story was engaging and I appreciated that it seemed to be more so for adults, the abuse being somewhat darker and my heart broke for Credence.
On the other side of things, I disliked Tina's character and wasn't impressed by the casting of Johnny Depp.
Despite my personal issues with the above, however, I still love this magical film and am greatly looking forward to the future installments.
Boy was I wrong and gave myself a kick for not going to see it on the big screen!
I very quickly found myself not only falling in love with Newt, Queenie and Jacob, but the animals brought to life on screen. The story was engaging and I appreciated that it seemed to be more so for adults, the abuse being somewhat darker and my heart broke for Credence.
On the other side of things, I disliked Tina's character and wasn't impressed by the casting of Johnny Depp.
Despite my personal issues with the above, however, I still love this magical film and am greatly looking forward to the future installments.
Awix (3310 KP) rated King Kong (2005) in Movies
Mar 5, 2019
Audacious film-maker attempts to mount spectacular entertainment featuring giant ape, finds he's bitten off more than he can chew - handily, this covers both the plot of King Kong and the movie itself. The equivalent of one of those bloated Harry Potter books written when JK Rowling was so successful no-one was brave enough to say 'this needs an edit': movie is exhaustingly long with a lot of dead wood in every department.
Main problem is that Jackson and his co-writers seem to think they are making Titanic rather than a pulp monster movie: this film takes itself very, very seriously considering the subject matter; sorely needs a sense of humour. Only really comes to life in the big set-piece CGI sequences, most of which are original to this film - Jackson is obviously having fun during the sauropod stampede and the bit with the giant man-eating crabs, not so much the rest of the time. Technically superior in every department to the 1976 version, but still less entertaining somehow.
Main problem is that Jackson and his co-writers seem to think they are making Titanic rather than a pulp monster movie: this film takes itself very, very seriously considering the subject matter; sorely needs a sense of humour. Only really comes to life in the big set-piece CGI sequences, most of which are original to this film - Jackson is obviously having fun during the sauropod stampede and the bit with the giant man-eating crabs, not so much the rest of the time. Technically superior in every department to the 1976 version, but still less entertaining somehow.
Rickey A. Mossow Jr. (689 KP) rated Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) in Movies
May 21, 2019
Tough watch...
Let me preface by saying I'm a fan and thoroughly enjoyed the Harry Potter franchise. The first of the Fantastic Beast series was passable at best so my expectations were low, to say the least heading into the sequel. And this film hit that low spot like a dart to a bullseye. I enjoy many of the actors and actresses in the movie, too. Redmayne does a great job and I really don't mind Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. But this movie is just a dark and confusing slog from start to finish. Every time you get to the point where you think you're about to give up on caring, they are like "Look, we have a cute creature." These little cute distractions are the highlight and lone fun part of the film. My ending thought with the closing credits was the same as it was for its predecessor: I wish Deathly Hallows would have been the end of this franchise. This is just blasphemy to Potterheads everywhere.
ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Necromancer's Apprentice in Books
Jun 6, 2018
This is not a Harry Potter copy (just so's you know!)
I liked this little book (it’s very short), and can’t help but think that it’s all set up to be the start of at least another book! But perhaps not!
Jyximus Faire is a student at the magical academy, and gets caught reading what he shouldn’t be. Instead of being expelled, he is given over to the city’s Necromancer to become her assistant.
I thought this was going to end up a copy of Hogwarts, but it’s not. It’s very much it’s own story, and the characters are not copies of any other books characters. The Necromancer is a woman who doesn’t stand for any nonsense, and I quite liked her. Her Wolfkin servants are the strong silent type, and Jyximus is a very curious boy who wants to run before he can walk!
A great little story ideal for children as well as adults. I think my 11 year old would have loved this as much as I did!
Jyximus Faire is a student at the magical academy, and gets caught reading what he shouldn’t be. Instead of being expelled, he is given over to the city’s Necromancer to become her assistant.
I thought this was going to end up a copy of Hogwarts, but it’s not. It’s very much it’s own story, and the characters are not copies of any other books characters. The Necromancer is a woman who doesn’t stand for any nonsense, and I quite liked her. Her Wolfkin servants are the strong silent type, and Jyximus is a very curious boy who wants to run before he can walk!
A great little story ideal for children as well as adults. I think my 11 year old would have loved this as much as I did!
The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) rated The Wise Man's Fear in Books
Aug 8, 2019
every time I stopped reading a just breathed the words "I love this book" (4 more)
Great characters
interesting things happen
I love the descriptions of the cultures and the customs of exotic locations
the world building
Best book I've read in 5 years.... most fun I've had reading since Ready Player One
If I were to write a full review it would be full of flowery language, and you would probably smile and think I'm over indulging in praise. Only those who haven't read it can ever have the privilege of reading it for the first time ever again.... it is only a matter of time before this is a move in the fashion of lord of the rings or harry potter, and damn I hope it's just as good. I will definately re-read this series, and it's not something I do. I'm the always on to the next one type reader...
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Dobble - Harry Potter version in Tabletop Games
Dec 3, 2019
Great fun
I'm a big fan of tabletop games, but it's difficult to find ones that I can persuade my family and friends to play that don't involve hours of play and a massive commitment. Dobble is the perfect party game - it's so much fun and even better, the games themselves are super quick yet hugely enjoyable.
This is basically a modern take on the classic card game Snap and it really is a great version, with up to 5 mini games playable with each deck. The Harry Potter version is a lot of fun and massively appealed to my geeky side, although did cause a lot of arguments - my less HP minded friends kept shouting out "boy!", "owl!" etc but I refused to allow it until they shouted their actual name (i.e Hedwig, Draco Malfoy). Maybe I'm just cruel, but surely that's the point of the HP version?! Arguments aside, it's a ridiculously fun game to play with people of all ages. My only criticism would be it seems fairly pricey for what is a glorified pack of cards.
This is basically a modern take on the classic card game Snap and it really is a great version, with up to 5 mini games playable with each deck. The Harry Potter version is a lot of fun and massively appealed to my geeky side, although did cause a lot of arguments - my less HP minded friends kept shouting out "boy!", "owl!" etc but I refused to allow it until they shouted their actual name (i.e Hedwig, Draco Malfoy). Maybe I'm just cruel, but surely that's the point of the HP version?! Arguments aside, it's a ridiculously fun game to play with people of all ages. My only criticism would be it seems fairly pricey for what is a glorified pack of cards.
The English Castles Story
Book
It was not until after the Norman Conquest that British castles, as we think of them today, came...
Deadly Class: Reagan Youth: Volume 1:
Rick Remender, Wesley Craig and Lee Loughridge
8.0
Rate It
Book
"Deadly Class is a solid read for those who want a combination of Mark Millar's Wanted and Harry...